For the better part of two years, opposition parties have lambasted India’s Congress party-led government for “policy paralysis” – not making decisions. Now they’re screaming mad at the government for the tough decisions it did make this fall, including the move to allow investments by foreign supermarkets. That’s likely to produce some fireworks in Parliament when it begins its new session Thursday.

Opponents of the Congress party, including the Trinamool Congress led by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the Bharatiya Janata Party, are looking for ways to embarrass the government and condemn the retail policy. What are their options? India Real Time asked Chakshu Roy of New Delhi-based PRS Legislative Research, an organization that tracks policymaking in India, how it could all play out.

Option 1: Voting on a Resolution. Opponents can move a resolution to condemn the government’s retail policy, which would entail voting. If it were to get majority support, the resolution would be an embarrassment to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government, showing that its executive decision to open up the retail sector to overseas investment lacks backing in the legislature. Then again, Mr. Roy says, this would not have the impact of reversing the actual policy. The government’s stand that Wal-Mart StoresTescoand others can open retail stores in India would be unaffected. “The government would lose face, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world,” Mr. Roy said.

Some parties that have lent support to the ruling coalition and allowed it to maintain a thin majority in Parliament, including the Samajwadi Party and leftist parties, have expressed resistance to the retail policy and might support this type of resolution, a Wednesday report in the Hindu newspaper said. TThe BJP, too, has indicated it may prefer this route.

Option 2: No-Confidence Motion. This is the nuclear option but it also appears the least likely to move forward. If a majority of members of the 544-seat Lok Sabha (273 votes) backed a no-confidence motion, the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers would be compelled to resign, forcing elections. These motions can be made on certain grounds – such as displeasure with a policy such as foreign investment in retail – though the actual motion to be voted on simply expresses a lack of trust in the ruling government. A no-confidence motion requires the support of 50 members – who must rise from their seats to back it. The Speaker then sets a date within 10 days to take up the motion.

Ms. Banerjee’s TMC, which has 19 Lok Sabha members, has been pressing for a no-confidence vote, but so far other leading opposition parties haven’t been signing up to the idea. She reached out to her arch-rivals in the leftist parties but to no avail, according to a Times of India report. One reason for the reluctance: other parties fear that Congress’s UPA coalition can muster the votes to win, and would wind up gaining strength from the episode. Congress and its coalition allies have 254 members and are counting on the support of the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, which have a combined 43 seats, to easily cross the 273 vote threshold.

In practice, it would be difficult to bring up another no-confidence motion anytime soon if it fails this time. “You can’t keep bringing up no-confidence motions – Parliament wouldn’t function,” Mr. Roy says.

Option 3: A Big Debate. The opposition can move to debate the government’s retail policy, giving them a platform to make their case that foreign firms will put small-time Indian retailers out of work and hurt the economy. The BJP and Ms. Banerjee would score some political points and disrupt Parliament so Congress can’t press forward with its immediate agenda, such as bills to allow more overseas investment in insurance and pensions and to streamline land acquisition. But there would not be a vote on the matter and the government could claim it was simply letting its critics vent their anger.

Mr. Roy says the Speaker in the Lok Sabha, Meira Kumar, will play a major role in the proceedings in coming days. She will have the discretion to determine whether any resolution brought before the House is “in order” before it can be accepted. And she can try to work with opposition parties to find a compromise that allows them to air their concerns without putting the government in a tight spot. “The Speaker can say, ‘Let’s sit down in my office and talk about it,” Mr. Roy says. “More often than not, the Speaker finds consensus rather than rejecting a motion.”

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